Kenya’s Car Trunk Sales: Citizens Efforts To Beat Lockdown And Provide For The Family Bear Fruit
The Oasis Reporters
May 29, 2020
Like Nigeria, the East African country of Kenya, birthplace of President Barack Obama’s father is dotted with very famous slums, suspected to be breeding grounds for viruses and bacterial organisms. Therefore with the entry of the novel Coronavirus pandemic from Wuhan in China, the country’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta promptly imposed a lock-down.
Kenyans show ingenuity to get out the fruits from rot and waste through brisk sales…in the car trunk. No market stall rentals.
The lockdown is in the face of a struggling economy in an African country with insufficient running water and many basic amenities, lacking. The lockdown meant a lot of inconveniences to the citizenry.
In terms of size, the entire economy of Kenya is dwarfed by the value of the Lagos Stock Exchange alone, in Nigeria’s commercial capital.
With little or no palliatives from the government, Kenyan car owners have devised a novel way of making ends meet by turning their car trunks into mobile markets.
This is how it works: A car owner manages to drive into the countryside, stocks up local foodstuffs, then heads back to Nairobi, the capital city.
Sales promptly commence, at much cheaper rates than it would be in local markets.
With few passengers on the roads to transport, the city’s bus drivers seem set to turn their matatus (local name for transport buses) into food supply vehicles to car trunks sales persons as well, giving a boom to the informal markets dotted along major roads of Nairobi city.
